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This two stringed musical instrument, called morin khuur or horse headed violin,
expresses the very soul of Mongolian nomads. According to a legend, it was created to play
a song about Zhonon Khar or Noble Black fast horse.
After the death of his beloved horse, the owner put its head on an ancient graveyard,
and then made a musical instrument on top of which he carved a head of the proud horse. He
wrapped the instrument with the horse's skin, and attached strings made of horsetail
hairs. Then he composed a song about his beloved horse. Ever since the morin khuur sounds
in almost all the nomadic dwellings.
Herders believe that not only humans but also animals are subject to the charms of
morin khuur music. When a camel refuses to accept it’s first born foal, a local morin
khuur player is summoned to play special songs. After a while, touched she camel, with
tears on her eyes, begins to feed the foal.
There are many tunes and songs specially composed for morin khuur. Songs about fast
horses, traditional long folk songs included into the Golden Heritage of the Humanity can
not be imagined without morin khuur accompaniment. J.Badraa, a well-known researcher who
dedicated himself to the study of folk songs, calls morin khuur and the traditional folk
songs the golden wings of the folk music.
Mongols are very musical, with songs and music deeply embedded into the daily lives.
Most families consider it a special pride to own a musical instrument and, in most cases,
it is morin khuur enjoying special reverence equal to that of given to scripts and books.
Owner would wrap a blue Khadag (a silk scarf, sign of respect) around it and place in most
honored corner of a gher called khoimor or northern side just opposite the entrance.
Morin khuur is smartly made, differing from other musical instruments in the design and
making. Its corpse is covered with a fine skin of a goat or camel foal prepared according
to old techniques. It is painted in green color with mineral paints symbolizing the nature
and its fertility. For strings, long hairs called sod are selected from a horsetail. The
horse's color, breed and qualities are also considered when choosing hairs. The selected
hairs are also specially treated and dried out in a gher’s shadow.
The morin khuur has only two strings but its musical specter is wide enough to play
European classical music. Meanwhile, such tunes as Fast Horse's Stride can hardly be
voiced out by instruments other than morin khuur.
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